Furthering its commitment to invest in San Diego's youth, today the City of San Diego is celebrating the completion of its first-ever Summer Civic Internship program aimed at helping the next generation of workers make a meaningful impact on our diverse community. Through the intensive eight-week program, which started on June 21, 125 interns gained valuable professional experience and were introduced to public service as a career option.

The Summer Civics Internship program is part of the City’s Employ & Empower workforce training initiative launched by Mayor Todd Gloria in 2022. To date, the City of San Diego has hired more than 500 interns, with a two-year goal of employing 1,000 young adults.

Many of the Employ & Empower interns are actively working alongside City employees in various departments, learning about everything from budgets and finance to water distribution and waste management. This initiative was made possible through Californians For All Youth Jobs Corps state funding.

“The City of San Diego is committed to providing paid workforce opportunities for young people to help jumpstart their passion for public service,” said Julie Perez-Rasco, Human Resources Director. “Access to programs like Employ & Empower brings exposure to City operations and provides San Diego’s youth with the tools they need to build a career.”

During the Summer Civic Internship program, staff from City offices and departments shared challenges and highlights of the work they do in serving San Diego communities. Interns were tasked with researching solutions to projects that included helping library patrons navigate relevant and accurate information and developing educational outreach strategies and tactics.

In addition to the project work, interns also studied self-paced, online courses in communications, customer service, data analytics, environment, IT, project management and public safety - all integral elements of City of San Diego services.

The Employ & Empower program is open to California youth between the ages of 16 and 30 who are enrolled in an academic or training program. Participants can receive transit passes, professional clothing gift cards and technology resources as needed. Interested participants can learn more about the program by visiting sandiego.gov/employ-empower.